Andy Goldsworthy will discuss Garden of Stones, his permanent installation at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, in Zoom talk (photo courtesy the Museum of Jewish Heritage)
Who: Andy Goldsworthy, Jack Kliger
What: Live Q&A
Where: Museum of Jewish Heritage Zoom
When: Sunday, December 6, free with RSVP, 11:00 am
Why: In the summer of 2003, British sculptor, land artist, and photographer Andy Goldsworthy installed Garden of Stones outdoors in the 4,150-square-foot garden at the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, a collection of eighteen massive rocks that had small holes hollowed out in them in order to place dwarf oak saplings inside, planted by Holocaust survivors and members of their families at a special ceremony. The number eighteen is represented in Hebrew by the letters chet (ח) and yod (י), which form the word chai, which means “life.” The work offers a twist on the traditional Jewish cemetery, where people leave pebbles on headstones when visiting graves that are surrounded by growing grass, a kind of life out of death.
Goldsworthy, who interacts with the natural world like no other artist, has been profiled in such documentaries as Leaning into the Wind and Rivers and Tides, which reveal his deep connection to the earth and his often time-consuming process. On December 6 at 11:00 am, in “Creating Garden of Stones,” he will discuss his methods specifically relating to the project in a live Zoom talk and Q&A with Museum of Jewish Heritage president and CEO Jack Kliger. The ever-changing permanent installation takes on new meaning while the country struggles through a horrific health crisis that has led to more than 280,000 American deaths, with many funerals happening virtually instead of in person and cemetery visits few and far between. Admission is free with RSVP.